Perth Glory utility Jamie Harnwell received confirmation today that he’ll be sidelined for six weeks after scans revealed a tear in his left hamstring.
Harnwell suffered the injury during the opening half of Perth’s 1-0 victory against North Queensland Fury in Mandurah on Saturday.
The injury will keep Harnwell out of the club’s first few games of the regular season and he is aiming for a return in round four against Melbourne Victory at Members Equity Stadium.
“While is not ideal to cop an injury at any time I guess it is better now where I’ll only miss the opening few games rather than during the season where I’d miss a full six matches,” Harnwell said.
The 31 year old started the game up front alongside Mile Sterjovski and was in menacing touch, scoring the only goal of the match in the 17th minute, and always in the thick of the action before being carried off after 36 minutes.
The arrival of Chris Coyne and Andy Todd has given Perth several options in the heart of defence and Harnwell was excited about the opportunity to push forward on a more regular basis and hopes to continue in that role on his return.
“Getting the chance to play up front was great and I wanted to stake a claim for a spot up there,” he said.
“I felt good on the day and was really looking forward to the first game of the season. I love being involved and I wanted to make good use of all the hard work I had put in over the pre-season.”
“I’m hopeful I won’t loose too much in the rehab period and that I’ll come back just as sharp,” Harnwell added.
The injury occurred as Harnwell went to jump for a cross and in the 48 hours since the incident he has responded well to treatment and started to get some movement into the muscle.
“It has settled down well and I’ll start walking in the next day. I’ll be spending a fair bit of time in the pool and on the bike but I’m keen to get started as soon as possible,” he said.
